Penance (CCC 1422-1498) - (also called reconciliation or confession)
Sometimes on our journey toward the heavenly promised land we stumble and fall into sin. God is always ready to lift us up and to restore us to grace-filled fellowship with him. He does this through the sacrament of penance.

Jesus gave His apostles power and authority to reconcile us to the Father. They received Jesus' own power to forgive sins when He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained". - John 20:22-23 - Saint Paul notes that "all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation...So, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us". - 2Cor. 5:18-20 - Through confession to a priest, God's minister, we have our sins forgiven, and we receive grace to help us resist future temptations.

The Eucharist (CCC 1322-1419)
Once we become members of Christ's family, He does not let us go hungry, but feeds us with his own body and blood through the Eucharist. In the Old Testament, as they prepared for their journey in the wilderness, God commanded his people to sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts, so the Angel of Death would pass by their homes. Then they ate the lamb to seal their covenant with God. This lamb prefigured Jesus. He is real "Lamb of God". who takes away the sins of the world. - John 1:29 - Through Jesus we enter into a New Covenant with God - Luke 22:20 - who protects us from eternal death. God's Old Testament people ate the Passover Lamb. Now we must eat the Lamb that is the Eucharist. Jesus said, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life within you". -John 6:53 -

At the Last Supper he took bread and wine and said, "Take and eat. This is my body...This is my blood which will be shed for you". - Mark 14:22-24 - In this way, Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrificial meal Catholic consume at each Mass. The Catholic Church teaches that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross occurred "once for all", it cannot be repeated. - Heb. 9:28 - Christ does not "die again" during Mass, but the very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar. That's why the Mass is not "another" sacrifice, but a participation in the same, once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Saint Paul reminds us that the bread and the wine really become, by a miracle of God's grace, the actual body and blood of Jesus: "Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself". - 1Cor. 11:27-29 - After the consecration of the bread and wine, no bread or wine remains on the altar. Only Jesus himself, under the appearance of bread and wine, remains.

Confirmation (CCC 1285-1321)
God strengthen our souls in another way, through the sacrament of confirmation. Even though Jesus' disciples received grace before his Resurrection, on Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to strengthen them with new graces for the difficult work ahead. They went out and preached the gospel fearlessly and carried out the mission Christ had given them. Later, they laid hands on others to strengthened to meet the spiritual challenges in your life.

Matrimony (CCC 1601-1666)
Most people are called to the married life...

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -